


In Shadows We Drown

by Braxdovah



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, White Wolf
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braxdovah/pseuds/Braxdovah
Summary: A look into the creation and history of Levi - El Rey as well as interjections from his sire. A tandem written piece.
Relationships: Levi/Joachim





	In Shadows We Drown

The Final Trial ~ Summer 1970~ Viudera, Mexico 

Heat. Everything was heat and pain. He blinks up at the ceiling of the shack. ‘Well that was an ominous sign.’ He would have welcomed the bars of that cell in Gueras. As he lay there gathering his bearings, it occurred to him. ‘There was no way he should have be caught by the sheriff that night. he had talked his way out but still. It had been a major setback. Lost face, lost ground, lost the proof. The proof?’ He drags himself up. The smell of copper hinting that he should have stayed still. 

Outside this shack, voices can be heard. Not clearly, but the anger is obvious. The door opens and he rushes it. 

Retrospectively, rushing the door was dumb. He barely made it three steps before collapsing. 

When he woke, he was freezing, dripping in ice cold water, and could distinctly feel every injury he had acquired in transport here. ‘This is bad.’ Noting that infact, he is secured very solidly to the chair underneath him. No slack spared to ease the injuries. The scent of rose wafts around up from his skin. ‘Roses, fuck, this is even worse.’ Shaking the hair from his face, he spots the white petals tipped with red. ‘La Espina, well that explains the gag and the ropes.’ 

“You stole from me, gato negro. I trusted you and you took from me. I took you into my home.” She punctuates her words by digging her nails into his shoulder, glass sinking deeper with the pressure of her palm. The muffled yelp draws a laugh from crimson coated lips. “I heard you all but landed on your feet. You were lucky to have survived that fall. I am blessed to still be speaking with you. In light of this miracle, I want you to tell me who is helping you, Leviticus. I know you have help. Confess to me, and Mother Mary will know you are repentant for your sins.” 

She motions as she lifts the knife from the table. “I will forgive your ability to kneel at the moment. Release his arms, and loosen the gag. Leviticus is a good man. He will pray and confess to me who led him to steal from me.” 

His voice is hoarse and he coughs as he lays his palms on the table. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” 

“Do not try my patience, gato negro.” One of the thugs steps up from behind him, a meaty hand pressing into the already broken ribs. 

The words continue flowing, and he breathes shallowly in response to the intense pain. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.”  
“Make him talk.” The next blow grinds the bones in his shoulder together with a sickening crunch. “Tell me, or no priest will hear your confession again.”  
Levi glares up at her thru a haze of water and blood, steadfastly speaking “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”  
She lashes out, slapping him with an open palm. “You mock me, You have nothing, I have given you everything.”  
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Blood flecks his lips but he smiles.  
One of her men hefts a bamboo cane, and she nods. Levi’s smile fades as he gasps out each word between blows. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”  
She hisses as if burned and flinches. “You will tell me his name.” A quick motion to her other thug and he draws back, striking Leviticus in the arm, shattering it.  
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” A low whimper preceded the whisper soft words.  
“Hold him, I have another way to draw out his assistance.” The thug grasps his unbroken arm and lays his fingers flat.  
“Last chance.”  
Levi just stares up at the woman responsible for his wife’s death. The blade falls and she plucks up the severed pinky.  
“Here, deliver this to the church. I know his partner was meeting him there.”

The next several hours is a haze of unconsciousness and struggling to escape. His body ached and his hand he refused to acknowledge. ‘If I can get to the church, I can warn him to hide the rest.’ 

The next afternoon he comes to from the splash of ice cold rosewater once more.  
“Your friend seems not to care for you, why cling to his name? What will it change?”  
It is strange seeing La Espina from this angle, upside down and dangling from the roof of the shack.  
“Tell me, who he is and I will be a lady of mercy. He notices belatedly he has been half stripped and his arms bound to his chest. 

“I do not wish to torture you.” She casually lights a cigar with a blowtorch. 

“You see, my dear unlucky cat, you came far too close to my secrets. I would rather string you up and be done with it than drag this out.” 

The blowtorch is turned off and she paces as she smokes.  
‘Must not consider me a risk, to be alone with me.’  
“In all the years, I have been La Viuda, no one has dared come this close to destroying my creation. I will not kill you, not today.” 

She crosses to the wall and lifts down a branding iron. The ornate rose is the size of a man’s hand. 

“I will mark you for your sins. You will wander as Caine did. None shall strike you down but me.”  
He struggles and she laughs as she begins heating the branding iron. 

“I am not asking you to tell me today. Just think about that name and pray to the Saints that I am gracious and forgiving enough to let you tell me tomorrow.”  
The metal slowly heats, the colors shifting from black to red. The red fades to yellow and white. 

She strokes the exposed skin on his hip and places a kiss there. 

“To help me aim. I could have gotten it hotter like one would do for the horses. But I want you to feel this for as long as you can.” 

The shack is stifling hot, but the moment metal touches flesh, he feels frozen save the burning heat in his side. The brand feels as if it travels his whole left side and the scream echoes. He doesn’t realize he has stopped until she taps the cigar out by his head. 

“Now to keep the mark, horses have fur to burn away. Men need help.” 

She turns away and he watches as she sways, humming to herself., He sees a mortar and pestle, salt, limes other bottles that make no sense all gathered on the table. ‘The same one she… no. Do not think of it. Focus on a way out.’  
The grind of stone on stone stops and she crosses back to his hip. The fire reignites as she applies this paste.  
“It will require changing every hour and since you will be losing another finger today, I will arrange for your care.”  
She whistles. One of her men steps in and she gestures. “Water over him and then coat the brand, ice cold. Scented, I do not wish for him to smell of his fear. On the hour.” He nods and she almost walks out. “How rude, I almost forgot.” She takes out the knife and works the blade thru the joint of his ring finger. “Don’t worry, the ring will be on it when your friend gets it. Maybe he was confused.” She slides the finger into an ornate box carved with a rose. 

“Cauterize that. I will not have him die without my leave.”  
\--  
'This ain't right...' Marco uneasily tapped his fingers against the side of the small, ornately carved box he held in his hands, trying his damndest not to think about it's contents as he sat in the church pew. The ghoul's eyes swept this way and that, searching for the man he was supposed to meet that evening, growing increasingly more nervous with every minute that ticked by. The shadows were long in the empty church, set to dancing by the flickering light of so many candles, and the silence was almost oppressive.  
Nothing about the current situation sat well with him, but he was at a genuine loss. If their master, the architect of the current situation at hand, saw fit to let Levi suffer this way, who was Marco to judge but it just... seemed too extreme, too vicious and out of order for their gentle domitor.  
He heard the heavy doors open and close behind him and stood - painfully aware of how alone they were in the otherwise silent church - and relaxed ever so slightly as he laid eyes on Thomas, his fellow, closest to their domitor and most trusted. Surely, Thomas could settle his mind.  
"You're late, amigo," Marco managed a smile.  
"Work never stops when you're his right hand," Thomas shrugged, before his gaze settled on the box. Something about how he looked at it made Marco internally wince, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. "Another one?"  
"Yeah... she's been putting it to him hard," Marco sighed, shaking his head as he handed it over. "Look, it's not my place to question him but... she's going pretty damn far here, and he's cutting it really fuckin close. I don't know how much longer the poor guy is gonna survive."  
"Relax, it's all part of the plan," Thomas soothed as he closed the distance between the two of them, taking the ornate box - and it's unpleasant contents - out of Marco's hands. "They test people in order to see if they can hack it... if they can't, well, that's not Joachim's fault."  
"Yeah but... you realize what she's planning right?" Marco shook his head, resisting the urge to turn and glance at another flickering shadow. Just a candle, just a trick of the light. "I didn't take Joachim to be the kind of guy to stand by and let this happen?"  
"Marco, I don't question him," Thomas' voice took on a bit of a sharper edge. "And if I don't, you sure as hell don't, understand?"  
The other man scowled, opened his mouth to respond, when a voice, beautiful in pitch and tone, sounded from above them in the choir loft.  
"What's in the box?"  
As he watched the color drain from Thomas' face, Marco felt a chil run through him as the realization that things may not have been what they seemed crept into his mind. He turned, gaze moving upwards to finally settle on the shadowed silhouette of a man, standing above them, hands resting against the railing of the choir loft.  
"And where is Levi?"  
Thomas made a few mumbled, stammering starts to a sentence, but Marco heard the sound of his heel as it scraped over the ground as Thomas began to back away. That was all it took for Marco to understand that somewhere along the line, everything had gone tits up, and he was about to find himself caught in a very unpleasant situation.  
The silhouette above them vanished for a moment, bleeding into nothingness, and Marco's eyes searched everywhere, examining the flickering shadows around them until he saw a hint of inky darkness slithering along the ground, circling around behind them. Thomas' eyes tracked it's movements, wide and nervous, turning to face the tendrils as they coalesced and rose once more into the form of their domitor - shadow returning to flesh once again.  
Serene and beautiful, Joachim's oil-slicked eyes bore an unfamiliar hard edge to them as he regarded the two ghouls standing before him. Slender hands were held out towards Thomas, waiting for the box to be handed over.  
Thomas, to his discredit, took a step back only to bump into Marco, who stood unyielding, gaze accusatory.  
"... Which one of you is going to start talking first?" Joachim's voice, with it's German accent and it's musical quality, was that of a disappointed father at first as he reached out to pluck the box from Thomas' numb fingers. He examined it carefully as he spoke, noting it's craftsmanship and quality with a curious gaze.  
"S-sir, I was just foll-"  
"You shouldn't be here, sir," Thomas had found his voice again, and managed a weak smile. "It's not... well, considering everything..."  
"Considering what?" Marco wondered aloud, expression reflecting clear confusion. "It's not like he's gonna come waltzing through the door, Tom..."  
"Your two cents aren't needed here, Marco!" Thomas hissed, casting an angry glance back towards the other man before he looked back to his domitor, smile sweet once again. "Really, it's just a little bump in the road - the box is nothing to concern yourself with."  
"And yet you wish to keep it from me..." Joachim's voice sounded unimpressed with the excuses, gaze fixed on the two men and their exchange with a total lack of amusement. "... I don't like being lied to, or strung along..."  
Thomas opened his mouth to protest once more, made another weak grab for the box only to find himself compelled to silence and stillness with a cold gaze and a murmured command in German from the vampire before him. Marco began to speak but it was too late, as Joachim's pale fingers flicked open the clasp of the box and raised the lid.  
The last expression Marco had ever expected to see upon his domitor's face was the mix of shock and hurt that warred for dominance with fear as his dark eyes fell upon the grisly contents within. With one shaking hand, Joachim delicately turned the contents just enough to confirm what he already knew, before he fumbled the box closed and let it clatter the floor, turning his back on both men for a moment.  
"... She's going to kill him." Marco blurted, wincing at the sight of his domitor's shoulders as they tensed, as his fingers twitched into claw-like positions. "Tonight... I... I'm sorry, I thought you knew what was going on, I thought you were gonna-"  
"Thomas, you are to return home at once... And Marco, you will ensure he makes it there and remains under lock and key," Joachim's voice was colder, darker, as he began to walk away. "And Thomas, pray. Pray to God Above that-"  
"I did this for your own good!" Thomas interjected, his voice cajoling, desperate. "I... You're so blinded by your fixation with him, Joachim, that you can't see how weak he is! He's not what you think-"  
Marco didn't register that Thomas had been struck until he heard the meaty sound of a body striking the stone wall, and the short breathless scream that escaped Thomas as he slid to the ground. All he could do was stare wide-eyes at his domitor, standing a few feet away from him with his arm yet outstretched. Animate shadows writhed over his form, worked in and around his eyes like living things, and when he spoke, Marco swore he could see the tips of Joachim's ivory white fangs.  
"Take him home, and if he escapes me, I will make you both wish you'd never been born," The Lasombra's words were hissed rather than spoken, venom dripping in every word. "And pray that Leviticus is not lost to me."  
"I... I'm sor-"  
"Go."  
\--  
If he weren't in such a state, the mansion would be striking indeed.  
As it was, as Joachim's shadows slithered up and over the walls of the grand estate, the Lasombra dimly reflected upon the beauty of the grounds. Statuary and lush landscaping made it pleasant on the eye, he could dimly catch the vague scent of the fire and ice roses that seemed omnipresent, their scent almost enough to overpower the vague scent of blood as he passed by a fountain. Almost - the scent alone in tandem with his already frantic state of mind made the monster that dwelled in the darkest recesses of his heart giddy for a moment, made it surge forward and test the restraints that held it back.  
'Soon, soon enough you'll indulge in your lust for wanton violence and sin... not yet.'  
He didn't draw any attentions as he made his way through the grounds - what was one more shadow in the night? He edged along windows and doorways, probed and peeked his way through to catch glimpses into the manor itself.  
This town was corrupt to the core. He'd known it the night he'd arrived, and it had in fact informed his decision to stay. Quiet, away from the growing city and it's ever present light and sound, with enough people willing to turn a blind eye to the terrible things that went on in the night that his conscience bore him no guilt whenever he had the need to slake his thirst. He'd arrived intent on taking the year to study and commune with the Abyss in peace and quiet, away from the demands of Kindred society and his House, and he'd thought all was well.  
But somehow, in this corrupt place, he'd found the only good man in a sea of filth, and that good man had captivated him so much. A year's sojourn had turned into three, three into five, and five into ten as he tested and observed, tested and observed, trying and failing at every turn to make the pure heart that he'd found falter and fall into the depths of despair and corruption that seemed to permeate the very core of everyone else around him.  
'Losing him isn't an option.'  
If his tenebrous form had proper eyes, they would have narrowed as he gazed within the mansion. Religious artwork intermingled with lavish decor in the way that he'd come to associate entirely with hateful corruption and misguided faith. The ultimate slap in the face to a man who had once devoted himself so fully to God and had yet lost his way. Again, the maddening whispers of the monster within him rose in his mind, but he pushed it aside once again, never ceasing in his searches.  
Noise and activity caught his attentions - the sound of tools, wood, and the quick beating of hearts that he associated with manual labor. Joachim slithered along the side of the house, pausing for a few moments when he located the source of the sounds, and for a moment he felt as if his vision clouded over in crimson at the sight of the rough wooden cross being assembled.  
'Unacceptable.'  
Bite it back, swallow it down, Heavenly Father give me strength - Like a mantra, he repeated the words over and over in his head as he tore his gaze away from the sight of the cross and diverted his rage into the search. While he was certain that there was a basement or a sublevel to a mansion of this size, he preferred to check the outbuildings first and foremost - eliminating them and getting a proper idea of the grounds and the staff that the woman who'd dared to cross him may have at her beck and call.  
'Hungry too...'  
He pushed away that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach, ever-present even as he moved through the grounds without a body proper. There would be time to slake his thirst, and plenty to sate himself on, before the evening was through but for now, his attentions needed to remain sharp and focused on the task at hand.  
'Where is he, where, where where!?' 

“Oy, Paco, Tiempo para ahogar el gato perdido de nuevo.” The hammering pauses and the sounds of water pouring can be heard. Muttered curses about the effort this takes filter into the night air until two more men with automatic weapons approach. “Remove the gag this time. She wants to hear him scream.” The two workers and the armed thugs that joined them pause and look to the window where a woman’s silhouette can be seen, just watching and waiting. The group begins slowly moving to a darkened greenhouse that strangely enough has guards of its own. The entire estate seems to have paused to observe these moments with bated breath. 

'Ahh, there we are...'  
It was in that moment of held and bated breath that hell was unleashed upon the grounds of La Viuda's estate.  
The group moving towards the greenhouse found themselves quite suddenly enveloped in a choking, whispering nightmare of darkness as black as oblivion itself, icy cold and pulsating around them in waves that slowly stole the very breath from their lungs.  
The Lasombra bit his lower lip for a moment in focus, watching from his vantage crouched low behind a well-landscaped bush, gaze flicking towards the guards outside the greenhouse. He gave them no quarter beyond the shock of seeing their fellows vanish from view before writhing tentacles of shadows rose from the men's own shadows and wrapped about them, ensnaring their arms and holding them in painfully tight grips.  
Only then did Joachim rise, moving towards the greenhouse at a run, intent on retrieving what was his.  
The alarm goes up. “La sombra del demonio!” The sounds of running men and the clank of weapons begins to sweep towards the greenhouse and the shadows. Inside there is a limp body strung up by his ankles. The arms are bound behind his back, palm to elbow. Dripping from the body is blood tinged water. Piles of petals strewn underneath him. Levi twists, the noise dragging him from the pain induced stupor he was in with an agonized groan.  
For just a moment, at the sight of his investment of ten years, the would-be companion he'd forged and reformed through trial and adversity, hanging almost lifeless made his mind go blank and his vision turn red. Whether it was from the tears that brimmed in his eyes or the unaccustomed howling of the Beast within his soul, he didn't know. It was with an extreme force of will that he swallowed it back, the voices and shouted words centering him once again.  
Nothing was ever simple.  
Joachim turned on his heel, rushing back to the entrance of the greenhouse before capturing each of the ensnared guards by the chin, locking eyes with them one at a time and issuing the same command:  
"Kill your allies."  
With that, the abyssal tendrils holding hem fell away as he turned his attentions back to the barely conscious man before him - his Leviticus, his would-be childe - and set to freeing him. Tendrils of shadow whispered along Levi's form, lifted him gently even as Joachim set to breaking the bonds that held him. It was a difficult balance between speed and care - the last thing he wanted was to harm Levi any more than he already had been. When at last Levi's body rested in his arms, the Lasombra cradled him protectively in his arms.  
“Sunteți aici să-mi dea ultimele ritualuri. Ce tortură nou are ea in minte? Ar trebui să pleci de aici, Părinte.” Levi’s voice is hoarse and the guttural tongue is harsh in his passion. A battle rages outside. The two trying to hold off the other guards, the area of darkness assisting in thinning the herd. Levi attempts to sit up from Joachim’s grasp. The mortal captivated in horror at the scene just on the other side of the glass wall.  
While the language that Levi spoke was harsh and unfamiliar to Joachim's ears, the Lasombra's grasp of languages was such that he managed a wager at a word or two, and for a moment his heart ached for the other man. The idea that this woman, this devil's harlot, could have so cruelly broken what was his burned in his mind, made his thoughts race as he cradled the mortal man close to him, to turn his gaze away from the carnage outside.  
"Shh, save your strength, child..." He crooned softly, dark eyes sweeping the greenhouse in search of another exit. The idea of making one himself and calling that much attention to the rear of the building was undesirable, but a necessary evil if need be. 

“Get in and get him. I don’t care what brujeria he has called upon. I will make an example of him.” Her voice carries from the upper window. The men stop and prepare to fire thru the building. “NO! I don’t want him killed.” There is a bolted door on the far side of the greenhouse. A puddle of older dried blood before it. As one scans the greenhouse, it is clear that she had it converted to a torture suite. All the tools and materials laid out neatly. The brand resting in sight. Levi looks around and then motions at the door. “Voi da vrăjitorie ei.” His fingers tapping his face on his cheekbone under his left eye. It is plain that the wounds have only been roughly sealed. “Idolatrie dumneavoastră vă va distrug.”

The Lasombra stood then, Levi cradled in his arms like a child, unnatural strength a true boon to him in that moment. He quickly crossed the distance to the rear exit of the greenhouse, praying what remains of his shroud will cover their exit for just a few more moments. He'll open the door with a little bit of force, such is his hurry to get Levi away from their pursuers.  
"She won't get her quarry tonight, or ever, Levi..." 

Levi’s head seems to clear and he struggles to be put down. “Turn left, Padre. The right leads into the roses. That maze is hard to navigate in the day.” On the left it is clear and exposed. The right hand path leads into a darkened rose garden. As they turn, a dark nimbus rises just before them and the crack of stone can be heard behind them. “Leviticus owes me far more than he has paid.” Her tone is utterly calm, not the frenzied shouts of before. “And who are you?” Her voice taking on a flirtatious tone. 

At the sight of the darkness before him, Joachim froze for just a moment, dark eyes narrowing before he turned and took a handful of steps towards the rose garden, navigating carefully as he kept his eyes on what was before him.  
"Just a priest," He replied, his tone level and pleasant despite the circumstances, as he shifted Levi in his arms once more, clearly unwilling to let the other man's stubborn streak win out. "A simple priest trying to save a soul that's in a terrible situation. I could save yours too, my child. It seems like you're in desperate need of it." 

“If he prays, he will have his soul saved. Give him to me. I have always rendered to the Lord what is his. Give me this indulgence.” She smiles sweetly all La Viuda and reaches out her hands and shadows as if to gently take Levi. “Give him to me.” Levi twists away from the roses and her with a pitiable whine. 

"I'm so sorry to disappoint you," Joachim's tone was cold and dry as he tried to pay heed to Levi's movements, altering his course as best he can to try avoiding the woman. He didn't relish the idea of Levi seeing exactly what he could do, of letting the other man realize that he was in essence caught between two monsters, but his options were quite clearly dwindling to nothing. "But he leaves here with me, tonight. You can either repent, or I can send you back to the devil that keeps your soul bound with the same elixir that gives you what little control you have over the darkness." 

She steps closer. “Your church belongs to me. Your masses are paid for by me. Now, release him. This city is mine as are all.the souls within it.” She reaches a hand out and runs her nails along the wound on Levi’s shoulder. His eyes locking with hers. Fresh copper overtaking the scent of roses. “Like I stated, he is mine. Come here.” 

There were many things Joachim would have endured in the situation he found himself in, least of all insult and harm to his person.  
But in the moment that it took him to retain control of his senses, the moment that it took him to close his eyes and shudder away her force of will, when La Viuda closed the distance and harmed Levi - his Levi! - and expected no repercussions, the Lasombra saw red.  
Another Abyssal tendril of darkness poured forth from the small space between the two of them, lashing out at the woman with vicious strength, even as Joachim drew several places to back to settle Levi into the ground as gently as possible.  
"I gave you a chance, Teufelfrau," He hissed. "I've had enough of these games!"

She yelps and stumbles back. “You are nothing, priest. I am a Saint.” Levi attempts to stand and collapses in place, passing out before he can see anything. She produces a knife from her dressing gown and lunges at Joachim. 

A short cry escaped Joachim as the blade sunk home in his side, where he'd twisted to try avoiding taking the full brunt of the blade anywhere vital. The Lasombra clapped a hand over the blade, trying to prevent its withdrawal.  
"T-Teufels Hure!" He snapped, his fangs lengthening at last as he made a grab for the woman's throat, intent on finishing her off once and for all.

She tries to pull away, but his grip on her arm is like steel. Her brash confidence fading at the sight of his fangs. “Forgive me Father for I have... “ The words die in her throat as Joachim easily overpowers her. The shroud behind them discorpating slowly. The estate is in a state of panic and confusion, as lingering commands and dominates fade and wither away.  
"He's not listening."  
The words are whispered in her ear as Joachim drags her close, free hand tangling in her hair to wrench her head to the side. A heartbeat later his fangs sink home in her throat. The Lasombra drinks quickly, angrily and without pleasure or desire, jaws locked on her throat as his bite increases in pressure.  
When he's finished, Joachim doesn't let her go gently - instead, the vampire will tear away from her, raggedly severing the artery he's just fed from before he lets her drop to the ground. Dispassionate oil-slicked eyes will regard her in those final moments, his only movements to draw her blade from his flesh and cast it aside.  
"I hope you burn."  
The ugly business of La Viuda finished, Joachim will turn then to gather Levi’s unconscious form back up into his arms.

The chaos of the estate and the arguing of her more powerful underlings allows them to leave unmolested. Battle lines are being drawn. Within hours, the city will devolve into a utter warzone. 

Choices, Choices ~ Summer 1970 ~ 40 miles out of Viudera, Mexico 

It had certainly been a whirlwind of a relocation.  
Joachim sighed softly as he gazed down upon the sleeping form of Levi, pale fingers worrying idly over the beads of the rosary that hung, ever present, around his left wrist.  
How he’d longed to bring Levi’s trials to an end, how he’d wanted and waited for the day when he could reveal himself to his prospective childe as the architect of his hardships, to be able to praise him for his resilience and fortitude of spirit... But not like this. Never like this.  
Joachim reached out a hand towards Levi, intending to brush errant strands of hair away from his forehead, but paused for a moment, urging vitae through his veins to warm his skin and give him more of a semblance of life. The last thing he wanted was to terrify the poor man should such a gentle touch awaken him. The other man looked like a tormented angel in the room’s low light, in Joachim’s mind at least - the last thing he wanted was to add to that torment.  
When he felt confident enough, Joachim's soft fingertips brushed over Levi's forehead gently, tucking strands of hair away from the other man's face gently. He couldn't help the soft smile that came to his features - it was, in truth, the first time he'd touched the man who'd held his fascination for so long without there being some underlying tragedy or urgency behind it, whether it be rescuing him or tending to his injuries.  
Satisfied for the moment that such a gentle touch didn't wake him, the Lasombra set to carefully inspecting the bandages of his prospective childe's well-dressed injuries, still trying not to wake him. 

Levi stirs and reaches as if to push someone away. “Eli, prea devreme.” He blinks slowly.”You are not Eli.” His voice is rough still, and with the barest hint of annoyance. He looks around, slowly becoming alarmed and trying to sit up. “Where am I?” He is clearly thinking as he studies the room. ‘Not home, not the gilded cage of the Estate.’ His good hand skims the fabric, testing the quality of it. His eyes settle on Joachim. A low sigh of relief, or pleasure, crossing his lips. “I know you. I think I know you.” 

Joachim will have drawn back slightly when Levi woke, his smile serene and comforting as he gazed down at the other man.  
"You know me... You've seen me before, yes... But we haven't spoken very much, face to face," He moved to take a seat in a chair that had been stationed near the bedside - to give the accurate impression that he'd been sitting vigil over Levi while he slept. "Don't move too quickly - you're injured."

“I am lucky to be alive. Gato negro, I have been called. It rings true.” He stops speaking for a moment as he stares at his hand. After a few moments, he shakes his head to clear it, dismissing the injury. “Where am I? I need to get some packages to my contact, Padre.” Stubbornly, he forces himself to sit up, pain apparent in his clenched jaw. 

Joachim will move to gently guide him back down, his expression gentle but stern. 

"Nein, nein... You can't," His words were soothing. "Nothing is so important right now that it can't wait. Tell me what you need, and I will try to help."  
“Where are we? I had a contact that was hiding some very important papers for me. They need to be given to the right people.” Levi reluctantly lets himself be laid back down. The stitches in his shoulder having popped as is evidenced by the red slowly spreading thru the dressing. “She knows I was collecting it.” 

"Away from her, not that she matters anymore," Joachim replies softly, frowning at the sight of Levi's blood. "She is finished, her empire in tatters. That is why I brought you here, where it is safe."

“Finished?” He breathes out a slow breath. “Truly dead? There is very little else that would work without the proof.” His eyes close slightly. “You brought me here. But won’t tell me where here is? How did you find me Padre?” There is confusion in his voice not accusation. 

"A little town forty some miles outside of Viudera," Joachim replied, moving to retrieve a small first aid kit from where it waited at the ready. He gestured to Levi's shoulder, as if to indicate that he needed to tend to it, to prepare the other man for it. "As to how I found you... A parishioner of mine came to confession. The things he said... I couldn't sit idle. We'll say that timing was on my side."

Levi turns, more carefully this time allowing Joachim access to his side. “You are young for a priest. You must have been blessed to be able to become an old priest now.” There is tone of chastisement. “You could have been killed. At least I deserved my fate.” 

Joachim set to work removing the bandages carefully.  
"I'm a bit older than I look, but I will take that as a compliment... Now, what makes you think that you deserved it?" His words were calm, controlled, as he glanced back and forth between his work and Levi. "You're a good man, trying to do good works. Why else would she have tried to destroy you? The truly evil and corrupt cannot abide goodness in the world."

“Theft, mortal sin. I did what it took to get close enough.” He watches Joachim as if trying to puzzle something out. “You were not injured at all?” 

"Sometimes we do what we must in order to purge the world of evil," Joachim replied softly. "That is why we confess to priests, and receive absolution."  
All the while, he hasn't stopped working, removing the bandages and tending the injuries there gently.  
"None are lost so long as they seek absolution."

“Thank you, but I should go once I am able. I cannot impose on you further.” He looks around confused once more. “How does a priest afford this? I never got your name.”

"We will discuss leaving when you're able to move without hurting yourself, but it's hardly imposing on me." Joachim chuckles softly as he works. "I am Joachim Gerhardt - Father Gerhardt is fine... And as to how a priest affords this, we will say that I have been blessed over the years with benefactors among the faithful. And before your inquisitive mind sets to it, everything is legitimate and legal." 

Levi relaxes further. He closes his eyes partially, watching Joachim. ‘There are several women upset that he became a man of the cloth.’ “You could have left me at a hospital. Why move me so far?” His tone stays light and curious. “Forgive the questions. Last time, I woke in a strange location, my company was far less pleasant and unconcerned with my health. I wish to know why I am of interest to you.” 

Joachim will pause in his work then, dark eyes downcast.  
"... I have a particular admiration for those who seek justice in the face of adversity and corruption," Joachim chose his words carefully. "I could have left you at a hospital, ja... but this way I know you are safe and secure, and that no one will come seeking to harm you. I am not afraid of any reprisal myself, but would not wish for it to come looking for you." 

“She is dead. Her empire is broken as you say. I am beyond her reach.” His remaining three fingers drift along his hip, tracing the brand as he recalls her words. “A bluff, nothing more. How long has it taken me to heal?” 

Joachim's smile is tinged with a hint of pride as he resumes working.  
"Not as long as you would think, but I have my ways of helping that along. Old ways, we'll say." 

Levi raises a brow. “Vrăjitorie, that is what you mean? I was almost dead. I had made my peace.” 

“I am unfamiliar with the term, I’m afraid...” His tone is curious however. 

“My native tongue is not common here. It means witchery. Brujería.” 

Joachim will smile at that, nodding.  
“My native tongue is not common here either, but yes it is folk magic after a fashion... Surprisingly effective when paired with belief.” 

“It isn’t surprising at all. It works.” A flash sparking in the young man’s eyes. “You are German.”

Joachim will laugh softly, pausing for a moment before his lips curve in a smile again.  
“I could try it again - see if it works to heal you more quickly. Knowing that you’re a believer makes me more inclined to try.” 

“I believe but-” A rap at the door startles him and he jerks upright. Levi groans in pain and discomfort. The ghoul peeks in. 

Joachim’s expression will flicker with annoyance, and he’ll help Levi settle back down before moving to the door.  
“I told you he was not to be disturbed...” 

“We were wondering if you wanted us to bring him a meal.” The ghoul squirms nervously. 

Unseen by Levi, Joachim's expression will harden, eyes narrowed at the ghoul as if to say how dare he disturb them. But when he speaks, his voice is calm.  
"Yes, if you would. I'll bring it up to him, however... I'll be down shortly."

“A priest with servants.” Levi looks around, suspicion sneaking into his features. All the little things he had ignored becoming difficult to suppress. 

“Staff to assist, not servants,” Joachim replies, as he returns to finish applying fresh bandages to Levi’s injury. “This place is a refuge of sorts, a place for those who have nowhere else to turn. It's well-funded by my patrons and I am in turn responsible for its upkeep...”  
He’ll pause, a weak smile on his face for a moment.  
“Though you've just made me realize how terse I must have sounded... I haven't slept much since we came here, I've been watching over you.”  
When finished, he'll rise, gazing down at Levi for a moment before he speaks again.  
“I had mentioned preparing something to help you heal, to see if it will benefit you once again - do you mind me stepping away for a few minutes to attend to that?” 

“I am no condition to stop you.” Levi laughs softly, almost bitter. He smiles and shifts in place. “Go, I will be here.”

With a slightly apologetic smile, Joachim will slip out of the room, closing the door behind him. He will not, however, lock it.  
The Lasombra will make it around the corner before looking down at his hands, fingertips still red with Levi's blood, before raising them to his lips to lick them clean, savoring the taste with a shiver.  
"... Soon..."

Levi studies the room, marveling at the deep purple decorations. ‘No, he couldn’t know.’ He adjusts the blankets, sitting himself up gingerly. This time nothing reopens and he sighs relieved. Musing to himself, he smirks amused when a small black kitten leaps onto the bed and curls into his hip. “How did you get in here?”

\--

Joachim is gone for a short while, taking his time selecting a wine for his young prospect upstairs - one that will taste properly complex when intermingled with his vitae. He'll let his ghouls prepare the meal for Levi, inspecting it to ensure that it's to his satisfaction, and when the time comes, he'll make a quick, clean cut to his wrist to let his blood flow into a large glass, letting the bottom of the bell fill with it before intermingling it with the wine. Though he's well aware of the fact that his other ghouls are staring fixedly at the veritable wealth of blood he's granting to this upstart, this newcomer, their domitor pays it no mind.  
He'll heal the injury and ensure that there's no sign of what he's done before taking up the tray in his hands - cleaned of any blood from before - and head back upstairs.  
"... The fuck's so special about this guy anyways..." One of the ghouls grumbles when he's out of earshot.  
"Don't know, but I heard that he killed Thomas over this guy..."  
"You heard that from Marco, right? What the fuck does he know..." 

\-- 

Upon reaching Levi's room once again, Joachim will shift the tray carefully to one hand before he gently taps at the doorframe, hoping to not startle the other man. 

“Come in.” Levi speaks softly. The kitten purring contentedly on his lap. His fingers stroking over its back. “Your taste is very interesting. I appreciate the color palette.” 

Joachim will let himself in, smiling at Levi’s words. His expression will reflect surprise when he sees the kitten, but there's no displeasure in it.  
“I see the nurse is making her rounds,” He’ll incline his head towards the kitten. “Making sure that you're resting well.”  
He’ll get the tray set up for Levi to be able to eat while still settled in bed - his meal for the evening being pozole with the usual accompaniments, and the tall glass of dark wine that smells incredibly alluring. 

Levi sighs with pleasure, the scent of food reawakening his hunger. “I cannot recall the last time that I ate.” His hand reaches for the glass over the spoon, and he has taken a drink before he realizes. The wine is thicker than expected and he pauses. His tongue sneaking to draw in that lingering drop from his lips. Rapture suffuses his features before he can finally speak. “Your hospitality is overwhelming.” 

Joachim will settle back into the chair near the bedside, watching him with a smile.  
"I was born and raised in the old country - when you take a man under your roof, you give of the best of what you have to offer. It's only proper."

It is an incredible act of will for Levi to sit the glass back down and eat the rest of his meal. “My mother would agree.” A slight blush coming to his cheeks, he eats in silence. ‘It is nothing, just wine on a largely empty stomach.’

Joachim will allow him to enjoy his meal, taking up a book that has been sitting on the side table and opening it to a marked place, clearly not desiring to disturb his guest or to interrupt him. The book itself is old, but well maintained though clearly well-read. Occasionally, his gaze will flick to Levi, apparently pleased that his guest is enjoying his meal and the concoction he was served - the apparently referenced 'folk magic' they'd discussed earlier.

Almost all of the food vanishes before he takes the glass again, and forces himself to drink slowly. A near silent whimper escapes his lips as he comes to the last of the wine. “For some odd reason, I seem to recall those tasting much worse when I was younger.” Studying the glass, he waits for a moment for the last drops to collect and then licks them away slowly.

Joachim will smile softly at the sight, setting his book aside for the moment.  
"Different styles of folk magics I suppose," He shrugs a little. "They needn't all be unpleasant - the best medicine ought to make one feel better without discomfort in the process."

When Joachim smiles, Levi lights up reflexively. “Roma magic implies it is good for it to taste foul. The cleansing of evil.” He shifts over closer to Joachim, drawn to him and the way shadows drift over his countenance. The sheets and blanket slip down exposing the upper edge of his hips. 

Joachim will make an effort to keep his eyes focused solely on Levi's, but he can't help letting them trace over the other man briefly.  
"Such penance has its time and place, but... I'm of the opinion that if one has not committed evils, one should not have to suffer... That isn't to say that I find Roma magic flawed... Simply that my school of thought differs."  
'He's perfect...'

Levi thinks mulling over the words. “And what defines evil? Or innocence?” His eyes flick to the emptied wine glass and then back to Joachim. “Breathtaking” The word falling from his lips. When he hears it, he blushes darker.

"I would define evil as both wanton harm to others, and willful indifference to-" Joachim's words will catch at the word breathtaking, and the priest's expression will quite plainly reflect that he's both pleasantly surprised and slightly flattered by the compliment. He doesn't, however, blush.  
"That was unexpected," His smile hasn't faded altogether - there's just a hint of guilty pride to it.

He struggles to not look down or away. ‘He is a priest, have some shame.’ “You are very handsome. I suppose the wine was stronger than I am used to for me to blurt it out like that.” Levi shoos the cat away, and it settles on the hearth. 

"It does go straight to one's head... I should have taken that into account," Joachim's tone is gentle and amused, as he eases the chair a bit closer to the bedside. 

Levi slides down in the bed, relaxing once more. The young man doesn’t seem to question why his earlier questions have vanished and the disconcerting feeling has faded into pure pleasure at the Father’s presence. If he is bothered by the sheets and blankets drifting down his body, he is not showing it. 

Joachim's oil-slicked eyes will trace once more over Levi, the Lasombra wholly recognizing if only to himself how great a temptation the other man is. Slender hands will move to readjust the blankets to better cover Levi, though the barest tips of his fingers will brush against the other man's skin in the process.  
"Better?" The word isn't spoken so much as purred.

He arches into the touch just slightly, managing to contain a sigh. “I am not cold. Nothing hurts.” Levi rolls his neck and thinks for a moment. “How long would you be willing to let me stay? Perhaps I was being hasty before when I said I should leave.” 

Joachim will smile at his words, and instead of settling back into his chair, he'll settle to sit on the edge of the bed.  
"You may stay as long as you wish," He replies. "Perhaps, after you've recovered, you may find interest in staying on and helping me continue my works, but that's a discussion for another time..."

“Anything I can do to repay your help.” Levi is eager and seems grateful for the chance to be useful. He leans his head on Joachim’s arm “You saved my life. I owe you a great deal.” 

'Lead us not into temptation...'  
But the temptation was there, ever as it had been for the better part of a decade. Dogging at his heels, making him feel personally responsible for every moment of sorrow and rage despite his best efforts to properly hone his prospective childe.  
'And it is such a shame to damn such an otherwise good man- No, no don't think that way.'  
"Perhaps we might discuss ways that you may wish to help me in the future but... not tonight," Joachim's fingers will move to Levi's hair as he speaks, gently brushing it back away from his face once again. 

Levi groans softly, slipping an arm around the priest. The blood bond has thoroughly marred the line of what is appropriate conduct with a man of God. The fingers in his hair make him squirm in place. Every fiber of his being seems to be hyper alert and sensitive. The littlest of contacts sending sparks down his spine. “Stay with me, please.” Levi’s voice is quiet and it seems possible the words were not actively spoken.

'He's so close... I could just...'  
Joachim shifted slightly in the other man's embrace, fingers trailing from his hair to run along his jawline, touching skin and savoring the other man's reactions to his touch.  
'Would that I didn't already have plans for you... None of my other thralls are so devoted...'  
"I intend to... I find that I don't want to leave your side."

Levi leans his cheek into the touch. His lips gently graze Joachim’s palm, an accidental touch, but the mortal’s heartbeat moves faster as if he has committed some sort of illicit act. “Inger pazitor, I was not expecting you to come along so materially.”

'That sound... you're temptation incarnate,' It's all Joachim can do to ignore the sound of Levi's heartbeat, to resist the urge to press himself against the other man's chest to simply listen to the sound of the other man's life for the short while he'll be able to enjoy it. The Lasombra will lean in and gently brush his lips against Levi's cheek, as far as he's willing to allow his temptation to take him for the moment.  
“Tell me what you said... Bitte?” 

He turns and kisses Joachim’s other cheek. “Guardian angel. What does bitte mean?” The reticence he normally would have displayed about translating for a non Roma, much less a German, is completely missing. 

Joachim will laugh softly, the sound and his expression betraying a soft of innocent wonder at the idea of being called a guardian angel.  
“Bitte is... it’s just how we say please,” He replies, his tone momentarily mournful. “Would that it meant something as beautiful as what you called me... I tend to use it though because it sounds more pleasant than the word does in English.” 

He laughs amused. “I was just curious. I have never heard a lot of German. How is your Spanish?” There is a flash of concern at the shift in his tone. “Did I do something wrong?” Levi seems genuinely disturbed. 

He looks confused for a moment, before he smiles gently, one hand stroking Levi’s cheek in a comforting gesture.  
“Nein, nein, mein Liebster, you've done nothing wrong - I was simply wishing that my translation for you had been something prettier,” His tone is soothing, sweet. “And my Spanish is very good, or so I've been told... We'll say that my mentor insisted upon it.” 

Levi calms instantly, and gazes up at Joachim adoringly, completely trusting. “Why would you want to have the translation be something prettier?” 

“Because a man like you deserves to experience the beauty that the world has to offer.” The words come before he's fully thought them through, but he can't help but be pleased with them. “Or so says your guardian angel.” 

The mortal becomes solemn and shakes his head. “Most people are terrible to one another, often beauty hides an evil heart. I saw that.” 

Joachim will nod, sadly, at his words.  
“Truer words were never spoken. It's... Why I do what I do. Try to bring light into the world any way I can, even if it means sometimes walking the harder path.” 

Levi nods. “That is why I got involved. I was the only one who had nothing left to lose. Is that why you were there?” 

“... I was there because you needed me,” He replies softly. “Because you needed someone to intervene to see your purpose carried out to completion. And God willing, I always will be, depending on the choices you make moving forward.” 

Levi looks confused. “What choices? She is handled. I have no further purpose here. I intend to stay and assist you.” The mortal nods as if a large decision has been made and in truth, it has. 

Joachim will smile at his words, a momentary thrill rising within him.  
"There are far more numerous, and greater threats to the world than just that wicked woman... There are those who pulled her strings and empowered her. That's what I set my sights on - ridding the world of fiends like them and making it a better place... You would wish to assist me in this?" 

“Of course. I thought she was the end of the chain.” Levi smiles at Joachim’s reaction. The mortal’s emotions clearly dependent on the man he has become so quickly attached to. “How can I help you?” 

Joachim looks away, hesitant for a moment.  
"I... You'll think I'm a madman."

An actual plaintive whine slips from Levi’s throat. “No, I wouldn’t. Tell me, I will do it.” He shifts closer practically in Joachim’s lap. 

"I've been searching for someone to walk those hard paths with me," Joachim will hold him close, fingertips brushing through Levi's hair once again. "We could be unstoppable. Reform the world from the shadows, for the common man and for our... And our kind."  
His smile becomes hesitant for a moment - memories of how he briefly believed his own sire insane surfacing again.  
"... But I've watched you for some time, and every challenge you've ever faced, every hardship you've encountered... You survived and were made stronger for it. I think you could thrive..."

Levi yields to the very personal touch and contact, accepting Joachim’s assumption that he is his to lay claim to. Dark eyes flash, even in the low light, with excitement from Joachim’s words. “You want to start a revolution? You believe I could help with that. You understood what I was doing. That I was gathering all the evidence against her.” 

‘He understands so much and yet so little...’  
“I know you could help with it, but to walk the paths I do involves a great personal sacrifice,” Joachim's words are soothing, content as he holds the other man close. “We die as we are and rise again, are reborn as something other than human... And I'm not speaking in a metaphorical sense.” 

Levi looks confused as he shifts enough to lock eyes with Joachim. The blood bond smothering any and all of his instincts to confront the priest before him. “Vampir, acest lucru nu este posibil.” He swallows and the heartbeat picks up again, the racing pulse visible. “Forgive me this.” Levi gently presses his lips to Joachim’s.

Joachim’s dark eyes will widen as their lips meet, body tensing slightly for a moment.  
‘This isn't...’  
But he didn't care if it was how he'd imagined things going, it was what he wanted - try as he might to deny it. The Lasombra’s arms slipped around the other man as they kissed, gentle and hesitant. He didn't need to speak Levi’s language to recognize the word, and the fact that the other man seemed to have no fear of him made his hopes soar, however briefly, along with his senses. 

Levi groans softly, becoming bolder at the return of the kiss. His hands slipping over the other man’s chest, tugging at the fabric as if asking permission. The sheets and blanket have slid away entirely, leaving him exposed and his growing arousal evident to the night. 

A soft, answering groan escaped Joachim, between the touches and the glimpses he could see of Levi’s form, the sound alone enough to grant his permission before he even registered it fully. Pale hands moved over Levi’s back, tracing over skin with an almost innocent sense of eagerness.  
‘This is a sin... Such a sweet sin...’ 

Formerly clever fingers stumble and hang on the fastenings of Joachim’s clothing and Levi growls in annoyance. After a few seconds of difficulty, he gives up and whispers ashamed. “Help me please.” He rolls his hips against Joachim’s, trying to tug the other man further onto the bed. 

Joachim will utter a soft laugh, as his hands move to the buttons of his cassock. Nimble fingers set to undoing them as he moves further into the bed, and once it's cast aside he’ll slip out of the shirt and trousers he wears beneath it.  
“I've never...” While he doesn't blush, his expression certainly conveys the slight embarrassment at the confession.

“I know.” Levi nods understandingly and lays back on the bed. “It is a natural drive, it will come to you.” Fingers wrap around Joachim’s cock guiding and stroking slowly as he coaxes him into place over him. 

The short moan that that escapes Joachim at the touch is intermingled with shame and innocence. That close, Levi can somewhat clearly see the tips of his pearl-white fangs, just barely visible between parted lips. 

Levi blinks, shocked. The closeness revealing his eyes to be a emerald dark green. He shakes his head as if clearing it. Soft moan of fear tinged with arousal, Joachim’s cock grazes the mortal with his guidance. His life and his internal heat overwhelming in their intensity as he shudders.“You really are. What spell did you use on me?”

At his words, Joachim will freeze, as if startled by the implication that he's manipulated Levi in any way. Though his Beast internally urges him on, trying to coax him into taking what he so desperately desires, it's with great force of will that Joachim will tear himself away from Levi, pushing himself away with a hand clasped over his mouth for a moment.  
"... Es tut mir leid... Ich hätte nicht gedacht..." Joachim's expression is genuinely distraught, as he makes a grab for his trousers with shaking hands. 

Levi slips up, leaning against the headboard. He looks calm barely, but his heartbeat and breath are coming in quick bursts. “Stirgoi.” He seems poised to bolt. 

Joachim will stand, slipping back into his trousers and fastening them with shaking hands. For a moment, his shoulders will slacken, his expression hidden by the curtain of his jet black hair. When he speaks, there's a mix of sorrow and hurt in his words.  
"... Yes, I am, but I have not harmed you - nor do I intend to harm you," He sighs mournfully. "I have watched you for years, watched your trials and tribulations, watched your failures and successes, because I believed you could stand the test of ages at my side."  
He pauses as he retrieves his cassock, slipping it about his shoulders without bothering to button it.  
"... Forgive me for getting a bit carried away in my affections - watching someone for nearly a decade, caring for them, it's... Difficult not to feel something for them." He looks to Levi at last, dark eyes slightly apprehensive.  
“Please don't run... You'll hurt yourself, and then I'll have to heal you again.” 

Leviticus tilts his head. “You have been watching me for how long?” He looks apprehensively around, noting the door as the only exit. “You didn’t convince me to do anything. Clearly, the influence has worn off.” His voice has an tremor to it. He goes to stand. “I am leaving.”

“No, I’m afraid you’re not leaving this quickly,” Joachim will move to guide him to sit, his fangs retracted, expression serene once more.  
“You’ll remain here until you’ve healed, and until you’ve heard me out. If you then decline my offer... I’ll take you somewhere safe and ensure that the past few days will... simply be left as a void in your memory... You’ll pick up the pieces of your life from there.”  
He clears his throat as if to hide the short hitch of emotion that manages to creep into it.  
“But you won’t simply be walking out of here, Levi, until I allow it... So I advise you to make yourself comfortable until then.” 

The young man flinches away from the touch, scowling as Joachim moves between him and the exit. “I am leaving. You have no right to demand that I stay.” He stands again, and sidesteps Joachim. His state of dress and lack of actual orientation in this manor house seems to have not factored into his plan to run as he lunges for the door. 

As Levi moves to rush past him, for a moment the Lasombra is frozen in place, dark eyes wide with a mix of surprise and hurt.  
'How- Why are you doing this to me?!' Joachim's eyes briefly welled with tears, his hands clenching into fists as Levi surged past him.  
"... Unacceptable." The word was whispered as the shadows around Levi sprang to life, ensnaring the mortal in their cold grasp.  
"... I've done you no harm - I saved your life..." Joachim turned as he spoke, shadow-touched eyes fixing on Levi. "How dare you treat me this way..."

Levi yelps, and struggles in the shadows’ grasp. The terror in his eyes is one of a well known menace. The color has faded from the mortal and it is clear he is trying to hold his breath. 

Joachim will move to Levi then, capturing the other man with his hands pressed to his cheeks firmly, guiding him to look at him.  
"Behave," Joachim's voice is firm and commanding, despite the sorrow in his eyes, as he uses the power of his blood.

The command takes effect immediately. Levi whimpers and goes slack in the grip of Joachim’s shadows. “Te rog, voi fi bine.” He is all but begging for mercy. Held as he is like an offering before Joachim, he appears keenly aware of his vulnerability.

Joachim will carefully release him from the grasp of his shadows, helping him to stand before trying to lead him to sit down once again.  
"I'm not going to hurt you, Levi..." Joachim's voice wavers slightly. "You're going to stay here tonight, and through the day. You're going to hear what I have to say tomorrow... And if you decide not to accept my offer, you'll be free to go and you... You simply won't remember me anymore. Or this place. You'll live out the rest of your life as you wish..."  
Joachim will look away as he finishes speaking, trying to hide the first crimson tears that have started to fall.

Levi cooperates, climbing obediently back into the bed. “More light, please. Stay and listen to your offer. Nothing else?” He lays back patiently, the command lingering in his brain and keeping him calm. His eyes linger on Joachim, the conflicting emotions raging within. “Just please, light.” 

Becoming El Rey ~ 1984, Spring ~ Chicago 

‘Damn, this is not a good plan. Can’t go back though. Forward it is.’  
Levi parks the bike in front of an elegantly appointed home, and shoulders a small bag. He is well dressed, if not as formal as would be expected for his clan. He knocks and waits expectantly. The letters that had preceded this trip has been a gamble. 

Charlotte is at her desk preparing for the evening. Her place in Chicago was not as magnificent as her plantations in Richmond and Atlanta, but then again, nothing can top Southern beauty. Though she did well for herself all things considered. She didn’t really care much for it. She avoided Prince Lodin, the long standing Ventrue Prince as much as she could. She was grateful for her acknowledgement, but beyond that, never cared to attend court. Of course she attended board meetings, Dexter would kill her if she didn’t, but she never cared to rise beyond and Eiren. She had to kiss up to Praetor Lodin for allowing her to be there and make House Augustine look good. Lodin would ask her to pull strings here or there, but because of Dexter’s influence, she was allowed to her own devices. Her own devices: how she could make more money in Detroit without that bitch Bianca Giovanni getting in her way. What a pain.

So when Beau, her long time servant told her that young fledgling she found finally came to visit, she actually smiled. It was good to not think of the next board meeting and focus on this intriguing young specimen who showed up in her life. Then she thought myself, “Why the fuck am I thinking of him as a young specimen? I’m a neonate myself.” She stopped herself from thinking that. “Yeah, the 100+ year old neonate who constantly fails. The cloud Dexter constantly put over her head. His constant nagging, “Go make a name for yourself. Become an ancilla already,” was like a dark cloud over vanity fair. She shrugged off the thought for the moment and put another one in her head, “Maybe I can get him to trust me enough to show off. And make Virgil jealous of him so he’ll want me again.” She put on a smile as she walked to the sitting room, looking at the young man who was escorted by Beau to her presence. 

“Greetings Mr…. El Ray was it?” She says with a devious smirk, but with a playful tone. “Please sit down. It was good meeting you the other night. How can I help you?” She says sitting down next to him. Her demeanor is that of a woman in charge, but her face reveals nothing but plastered pleasantness. 

“Just El Rey, it is the name that suits what I have come to. It is better you never know my real name. I do not want you to be concerned with reacting if you ever hear it. As I told you before, I bring my skills here and must cast myself upon your tender mercy. If I were to be found by my sire, he would kill me.” His left hand twitches drawing attention to the two missing fingers. ‘This was not a lie, Joachim would be livid that he had left the way he had. You need her protection, let the trail cool. Let her take you in and at least if he finds you maybe by then this Ventrue will have decided she wants to keep you to herself.’ 

He smiles, a refeshingly charming grin, and leans back, avoiding touching her with his dust covered arm. “I apologize for my current state, travel by motorcycle is not the cleanest of methods. Where would you like to start?” He injects enough ambiguity into the words to make it sound as if he is flirting. Granted, his accent does that naturally. Even dressed as well as he is, he holds an air of danger and rebellious temptation. The aura of wickedness matches his strange eyes, black and shifting like a pool of oil. 

“All right El Rey,” she says with a brief deal of curiosity in her eyes, “But why would your sire kill you for talkin to lil ole me?” She pauses for a moment, gathering her thoughts, “When I found you, I’ll be frank, I just thought you were a nice lil face. Someone who might be good for a business deal here or there. Maybe a good ally down the road. What sort of business do you come to me with that your sire would kill you for? I made sure you had the hospitality of Prince Lodin. While you are here, you are safe. The traditions protect you. Or does your sire not follow the traditions of the Camarilla?” she says looking at him with more and more curiosity, unable to contain herself. 

“He does but as he is by now aware that I absconded with the majority of his material wealth and without his release. He would be within his rights to reclaim my blood according to the traditions of the Camarilla. I seek freedom from him and from the clan at large. You are a Ventrue, you understand the pressure of Houses and being one of the few clans fit to lead. I need your assistance in concealing myself. In return, I will help you with what you desire.” His words are passionate. He folds her hands in his. “What do you need me to be?” 

She looks at him, then says in a much more frank tone, “So you haven’t even been released from his accounting yet? And stole his money? You have a lot of gaul. I’ll give you that. Don’t tell me you are a Tremere though! If you are one of them, I sure as hell can’t keep you around here. My sire told me about them, and says they get really pissed if they leave their clan. I can’t help you if you are Tremere. But, if its another clan, we can probably make it work. But it’ll cost you, though. Has your sire at least told you about prestation? Or would I have to train you more in the ways of the Camarilla? Cause if you want to be Ventrue, there’s gonna be at least a few years of accounting so you can learn the ways of my clan, or else you will not fit in.” She looks at him seriously, waiting for his answer. Her look is harsh. 

“I am a Magister. Clan Lasombra. I have had fourteen years of accounting. I am well aware of prestation and the finer points of Camarilla society. I chose to contact you for the similarities in our clans. I am of no house and as long as I stay out of sight, mostly, he will not make a fuss. It would be an embarrassment to admit he lost control of me so easily.” He does not seem the least bit put out by the question, though he does stiffen and become more formal. “I can demonstrate if you do not mind?” He gestures to the area before her. 

She shakes her head, “If you wish to turn out the lights, please feel free. As long as you are not Sabbat, to be frank, you are ok with me. It seems like you and I have more similarities than you may think. My family thinks at times I am out of control too. I have a childe...who was a great mistake. You may know of him.” She shrugs, “You’ll know of Sedrick soon enough. He doesn’t matter. The present moment does. The point I’m trying to make is, while our clans maybe overly formal, you’ll find like you, I’m not. Doesn’t mean I don’t try to keep up appearances. But you’ll need to learn how to be a good Ventrue. Go through the training, accounting. Then my House Patriarch, Elder Dexter Mara will test you before you are released. This test will not be one a normal Ventrue goes through. Normal Ventrue are asked to use their influence over the mortals to help their local Ventrue before they are released. Not in House Augustine. Your trial will be much...different. If you fail, one of three things will happen. You will be put under accounting again. You will be put in torpor. Or fuck up enough, and Elder Mara will kill you. And I’ll require a blood boon for such a thing. For if I were caught not only would you be in danger, I would too, as would the honor of House Augustine. Do you understand this?” 

“A blood boon to you non transferable and with a Harpy you can keep silent. One limitation, I will not teach you my skills with shadows. I survived my trials well enough. I can handle this accounting and test.” He relaxes and idly toys with their shadows on the floor, causing hers to bear a proper crown. “Not Sabbat, my sire and his house are loyal to the Camarilla. It is good to discover that we have common ground. You have told me what your house would need and what your patriarch will demand. What can I do to assist you?” He brings her hand up to his cheek. “I have skills and talents honed thru many long nights, but I can learn more as you desire.” His smile is more innocent than such a rogue should be laying claim to. 

Stolen Kiss ~ Approx 1999 ~ Savannah 

He knew he shouldn’t be here. ‘This close, no, this was far too close. The first day had been an accident, but as the nights added up. I should be leaving. The gang won’t question. Go scout out another city.’ The fact he had risked sleeping next door said far more than any comment from his gang could. ‘It was happening again.’ The house was still silent. Joachim had not arranged for his staff yet. 

The door glides open silently as expected. He could see his sire sleeping upon the bed. Shadows dancing on the walls in the mirrorless room. The stake in his boot digs at his ankle and he leans down to tug it free. ‘One push, too easy. Tormenting me even as I rid myself of you.’ 

When he reaches the side of the bed, he freezes. Levi studies the impossibly attractive bastard. Each second drawing him closer to when he will wake. Hefting the stake in his good hand, he brushes the hair from Joachim’s face with his mangled one. 

‘One last little theft.’ He leans down, the ring around his neck slipping loose and grazing Joachim’s chest. Levi presses his lips to his sire’s, his current enthrallment making him bolder. The stake slips from his fingers after a second. The echo on the marble floor jars Levi from his rapture and he turns to bolt, abandoning his weapon.

All that remains of the moment when Joachim rises is the scattering of black cat hair and the vivid taste of mezcal. ‘Did I dream of Levi? Or has he returned?’ A motorcycle roars into the night. 

Kyrie Elison - Johnathan Fii (Moments after Stolen Kiss) 

“Only through trials and fire do we become stronger - all I have done has been for your benefit, childe, and one day you will thank me.” 

Words, poorly chosen and spoken in haste, echoed in his mind as he stood on the balcony, gazing out at the darkened garden. Above, the clouded sky allowed only for snatches of starlight and the occasional rays of the moon, but otherwise the night was dark and silent. 

He’d woken again, as he had so many times before, thinking that he wasn’t alone. The ghostly scent of cologne intermingled with leather and gasoline floating in the air with the rapidly fading sensation of being watched had hung so thick in the air that night that out of desperate hope he'd given voice to the name for the first time in a decade, calling out Levi’s name into the shadows and silence, only to receive nothing in return. The stillness of the night had been broken only by the distant sound of an engine, rapidly retreating at the street, and once again he'd been left alone to his memories and solitude. 

“I have condemned you to eternal Damnation, and you are the living embodiment of my own selfish desire. You are the evil freed from my veins, to walk these nights. Perhaps one day you will learn to forgive me, as I learned to forgive the one who condemned me.” 

Joachim turned away from the railing, moved back towards the darkened bedroom of the home he'd just settled into, intent upon beginning his evening meditations and contemplations. There was no point in this longing, no point in chasing ghosts. 

But as his lips parted to begin his chanting verses to focus himself and center upon the Abyss, as his tongue brushed over his lips, the taste of agave and smoke momentarily overwhelmed his senses and brought crimson tears to his eyes. 

“Levi?” 

As if in response to his whispered name, shadows poured forth from the Mystic, sprung to life throughout the house - slithering, searching, seeking out any presence, anything out of place. Any sign that Levi had indeed been there and that Joachim wasn't merely going mad from the grief and loneliness of the years. 

When his shadows closed about the object beneath the bed, he was reminded keenly of the sensation mortals yet referred to as his heart skipping a beat. The tendrils of night retreated towards him, wrapped about their prize, and deposited it into his hand like an obedient dog playing fetch. 

At first he didn't want to believe what he held in his hands. It couldn't have been Levi... It simply couldn't. It had to have been some sort of hunter, an amateur who had followed him home, an ill-prepared young rival... It couldn't have been... His mind considered a hundred, far-fetched possibilities even as it denied every single one. The little strand of black cat fur clinging to the wood was simply too much evidence to deny in tandem with what he'd believed to be a dream. Joachim felt his knees go weak and sank to the floor as tears at last spilled down over his pale cheeks. The carved wooden stake fell from his numbed fingers, clattering over the ground as he cupped his face in his hands. 

His greatest sin, it seemed, had come back to haunt him - and intended to be his undoing. 

Tijuana ~ 2001 ~ Lars and El Rey 

“Lars, I told you only to call me for emergencies.” 

“I am in jail, in Tijuana.”

“That is not an emergency.” The bored shuffling and signing of papers can be heard form El Rey’s side of the line. “They left you your cell phone.” 

“Well yes, look, I am in jail.” 

“They are just mortals. Fuck ‘em walk out.” 

“El Rey… I can handle mortals. I need you to help with the Sabbat outside.” 

“Wait what?” The drumming of fingers makes it clear that Lars has his brother’s attention. 

“There are a few packs of Sabbat outside. And I am hiding.” 

“Right, Mexico… What do you expect me to do from two hours north?” 

“Make them leave? You can do it, you solve little obstacles like this all the time.” 

“Fine, keep your head down and stay put.” The constant half annoyed tone in El Rey’s accent becomes harsher and he hangs up abruptly. 

Nothing changes for the first hour. At the beginning of the second hour of the Lars situation, the noise of police chases and large vehicles moving around the building picks up. Thirty minutes later, there is a shadow motioning for Lars to follow it. 

With the signal given Lars opens the doors to the cell he is in without bothering to unlock it first.

“Knew I could count on you to properly set the stage El Rey, stick close and we will have some fun on the way out of town.”

“Lars, if you get us caught, I will let them have you.” The threat is vague, but El Rey follows only half annoyed.

The last he says with a flash of the smile that El Rey knows to mean that nothing about what comes next will be smooth or follow any semblance of a plan. Once the pair of them get outside, Lars stops for a second to admire the scenery. There are policia cars everywhere with lights flashing red and blue making the streets of Tijuana appear like the inside of a rave. Bodies are littered everywhere. Leftovers from a massive firefight that the local forces did not fare so well in. 

“Damn brother you don't do things by half do you?”

“Did you want me to risk them finding you?” The amusement in El Rey’s voice is the closest Lars will get to him admitting overkill. 

As the duo moves out to meet up with their ride out of town, two packs shift into the street blocking their path. Suddenly, the fight is on. Lars moving with all of his speed is weaving in between the two packs sending members flying. Tentacles appear in the midst of one pack and a suspicious shadow diverts their attention to the other pack. The two Anarchs slip thru the fray and the rest of town to safety. Lars picking off the odd lonesome Sabbat here and there. 

“Well that was a good time, shame Aces Wild weren't worth shit in a fight.” 

Lars takes a look at the state of his clothes and his face curls in disgust. 

“Damn, they ruined my best shirt. I'm gonna have to get a new one. Overall a good night, even if we never made it to the Donkey Show.”

Letter to Joachim - To be sent upon entering play.  
Joachim, 

I write this letter to establish my terms of engagement. It is a courtesy for me to warn you of your impending trials. You always considered me to be so deceitful. I failed to kill you once. It was a sign of how misguided a plan that was. I will never kill you. I do not desire your death. I desire the poisoning and corruption of your virtue. We have always borne contrast and as you once stated, “I am the evil freed from your veins to walk these nights.” All of the great saints endured temptation. I will be yours. This is my vow to you, my fulfillment of my duty as your childe and my destiny as a proper Lasombra. The dark will consume you, it will break you and you will rise complete and pure as midnight once more. 

Gehen Sie nicht sanft in den Schatten.

Leviticus Merlo  
Your Adversary and loyal prinz.


End file.
